leviathan
f1bd896ca8
Pwnkit: 🔵 → 🟢 - Implements the canonical Qualys-style PoC end-to-end: 1. Locate setuid pkexec 2. mkdtemp working directory under /tmp 3. Detect target's gcc/cc (fail-soft if absent) 4. Write payload.c (gconv constructor: unsetenv hostile vars, setuid(0), execle /bin/sh -p with clean PATH) 5. gcc -shared -fPIC payload.c -o pwnkit/PWNKIT.so 6. Write gconv-modules cache pointing UTF-8// → PWNKIT// 7. execve(pkexec, NULL_argv, envp{GCONV_PATH=workdir/pwnkit, PATH=GCONV_PATH=., CHARSET=PWNKIT, SHELL=pwnkit}) → argc=0 triggers argv-overflow-into-envp; pkexec re-execs with PATH set to our tmpdir; libc's iconv loads PWNKIT.so as root; constructor pops /bin/sh with uid=0. - Cleanup: removes /tmp/iamroot-pwnkit-* workdirs. - Auto-refuses on patched hosts (re-runs detect() first). - GCC -Wformat-truncation warnings fixed by sizing path buffers generously (1024/2048 bytes — way more than needed in practice). Verified end-to-end on kctf-mgr (polkit 126 = patched): iamroot --exploit pwnkit --i-know → detect() says fixed → refuses cleanly. Correct behavior. Vulnerable-kernel validation is Phase 4 CI matrix work. docs/DEFENDERS.md — blue-team deployment guide: - TL;DR: scan, deploy rules, mitigate, watch - Operations cheat sheet (--list, --scan, --detect-rules, --mitigate) - Audit-key table mapping rule keys to modules to caught behavior - Fleet-scanning recipe (ssh + jq aggregation) - Known false-positive shapes per rule with tuning hints CVES.md: pwnkit row updated 🔵 → 🟢. ROADMAP.md: Phase 7 Pwnkit checkbox marked complete.
IAMROOT
A curated, actively-maintained corpus of Linux kernel LPE exploits — bundled with their detection signatures, patch status, and version ranges. Run it on a system you own (or are authorized to test) and it tells you which historical and recent CVEs that system is still vulnerable to, and — with explicit confirmation — gets you root.
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⚠️ Authorized testing only. IAMROOT is a research and red-team tool. By using it you assert you have explicit authorization to test the target system. See
docs/ETHICS.md.
What this is
Most Linux LPE references are dead repos, broken PoCs, or single-CVE deep-dives. IAMROOT is a living corpus: each CVE that lands here is empirically verified to work on the kernels it claims to target, CI-tested across a distro matrix, and ships with the detection signatures defenders need to spot it in their environment.
The same binary covers offense and defense:
iamroot --scan— fingerprint the host, report which bundled CVEs apply, and which are blocked by patches/config/LSMiamroot --exploit <CVE>— run the named exploit (with--i-knowauthorization gate)iamroot --detect-rules— dump auditd / sigma / yara rules for every bundled CVE so blue teams can drop them into their toolingiamroot --mitigate— apply temporary mitigations for CVEs the host is vulnerable to (sysctl knobs, module blacklists, etc.)
Status
Active. Bootstrap phase as of 2026-05-16. First module
(copy_fail_family) absorbed from the standalone DIRTYFAIL project
and is verified working end-to-end on Ubuntu 26.04 + Alma 9 + Debian
13 with full AppArmor bypass + container escape demo + persistent
backdoor mode.
See CVES.md for the full curated CVE list with patch
status. See ROADMAP.md for the next planned modules.
Why this exists
The Linux kernel privilege-escalation space is fragmented:
linux-exploit-suggester/linpeas: suggest applicable exploits, don't run themauto-root-exploit/kernelpop: bundle exploits, but largely stale, no CI, no defensive signatures- Per-CVE single-PoC repos: usually one author, often abandoned within months of release, often only one distro
IAMROOT's bet is that there's room for a single curated bundle that (1) actively maintains a small set of high-quality exploits across a multi-distro matrix, and (2) ships detection rules alongside each exploit so the same project serves both red and blue teams.
Architecture
Each CVE (or tightly-related family) is a module under modules/.
Modules export a standard interface: detect(), exploit(),
mitigate(), cleanup(), plus metadata describing affected kernel
ranges, distro coverage, and CI test matrix.
Shared infrastructure (AppArmor bypass, su-exploitation primitives,
fingerprinting, common utilities) lives in core/.
See docs/ARCHITECTURE.md for the
module-loader design and how to add a new CVE.
Build & run
make # build all modules
sudo ./iamroot --scan # what's this box vulnerable to?
sudo ./iamroot --scan --json # machine-readable output for CI/SOC pipelines
sudo ./iamroot --detect-rules --format=sigma > rules.yml
sudo ./iamroot --exploit copy_fail --i-know # actually run an exploit
Acknowledgments
Each module credits the original CVE reporter and PoC author in its
NOTICE.md. IAMROOT is the bundling and bookkeeping layer; the
research credit belongs to the people who found the bugs.
License
MIT — see LICENSE.